a beautifully quaint English country pub wedding in Hampshire | uk wedding blog

My oh my. I love this wedding. More weddings should take place in pubs. I could pick out all the details I love about this wedding but Sophie’s photos do better justice. May we just note how bloody gorgeous Sophie looks in her gown and Stu looks exceptionally dapper in an ensemble he chose himself. Oh and if you need a florist, Bex is definitely your lady. Oh! and I have only every heard amazing things about The Wedding Smashers. Ok, finished now.
Enjoy!! (CAKE)

Photography by Sophie Duckworth

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Venue – The Anchor Inn at Lower Froyle, Alton, Hampshire – eerily close to what we both pictured in our heads when we got engaged.

Wedding photographer – Sophie Duckworth Photography. Our pictures are just perfect, she’s a star.

Flowers – From Blush Floral Design. They were mainly white with hints of blue and lots of bright greenery. We just managed to catch the peonies in season, along with roses, flocks, hydrangeas, sweet peas, thistles… the list goes on. They smelt incredible and looked so beautiful. When they arrived and there was suddenly a sea of bright white and the air was filled with their scent, I think that was the moment I really realised it was my wedding day!

Bride’s dress /shoes – Dress from Cymbeline ‘Pour un Oui’ collection (also so close to what I’d imagined for myself) and shoes from French Connection (impractically high but I love them)

Bride’s hair accessories/veil – A pearl hairpiece and jewellery from Gillian Million that brought the whole outfit to life

Bride’s hair /makeup – Jade at Hamilton Hair and Lisa Hancox Make-Up – I just wish they could do that for me every day!

Bridesmaids’/dresses/shoes/accessories – Dress from Coast, shoes from Monsoon and Hair slide from Gillian Million; and she looked awesome

Groom’s outfit/accessories/shoes – Suit and pocket square from Hackett, beautiful brogues from Edward Green, Shirt from TM Lewin and a fancy tie from Selfridges. He wanted an outfit he could wear again and chose everything himself (and has impeccable taste!)

Groomsmen’s outfits/accessories – Our best man Abs chose his outfit himself – ‘model’s own’!

Cake – Le Papillon Patisserie – it was a vanilla sponge with vanilla bean butter cream and tiptree jam plus one tier of lemon drizzle, with oodles of fresh berries and rose petals

DJ/entertainment – Lucy from Wedding Smashers was our DJ in the evening and a total pro – not one single cheesy announcement or Village People track, although she did get bullied into a bit of UK Garage by a couple of nostalgic guests!

Stationery – Homemade by me, and the result of many cross-eyed hours in front of the computer, a bit of help from Google Images and sneaky use of the work guillotine. We wanted something really English and simple that worked with the venue, and that we could say we’d done ourselves and was totally ‘us’.

Décor/wedding details – Our theme was pretty loose, we just wanted everything to feel in-keeping with the old, English countryside feel of the Inn. Little, pretty touches that would make people smile. My lovely friend Fi lent me wicker hearts for the garden which I tied with blue and white twine we’d used elsewhere, as well as mirrored discs to put fairy lights and flower jars on so they would reflect and catch the light.

I put out a few little signs in-keeping with the stationery designs and we had hand-stamped luggage tags for the place names (it turns out my friend Rachel is a natural at that and should really be on Blue Peter!). Really though, we were spoilt with the Inn being so beautiful and interesting to begin with, and just needed to add a few accents and surprises to make it feel dressed for a special day.

Catering/food/drink  The food at the Inn is astonishing and they even let us have a menu with different choices on the day. I can’t count the number of people who’ve said it was they best they’ve ever had at wedding. And in case canapés, a three course meal, chocolate favours, wedding cake and an evening buffet weren’t enough, we put together a pick’n’mix of chocolates and sweets too!

Oh and of course there was Prosecco with fresh slices of strawberry, bottles of beer, ‘posh’ soft drinks with paper straws and some rather moreish wine with dinner.

We may have made some of our guests a little bigger but they seemed happy.

Wedding favours – Stuart works for a chocolate company so it was only right that we have chocolate wedding favours. He and our best man Abs handmade bars sprinkled with nuts and dried fruit and we sealed them in little bags with washi tape and bakers twine.

Honeymoon Destination – A mini tour of the States – a week relaxing on the beach in Miami, 3 nights in New Orleans and a final 3 night splurge in New York. Perfect!